Power of Attraction
by SkyB
Summary: Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson at last gets a chance at closer with the elusive Mr. Philip Stroh. Rated M for what may come in the final chapter. Hope you enjoy and please review, my first fic :  I do not own any of the characters.
1. Chapter 1

Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson's mind was in a colossal battle with her guts – the need to close a case HER way, in the face of possibility for dispensing justice against a cruel, calculated psychopath monster who might otherwise still find a way to escape justice. She stood there, pointing her gun at the elusive, sadistic Mr. Stroh, barely breathing, biting her lip, trying to stable the gun in her hands, hoping he makes his move, trying to come to a quick decision before the opportunity disappears…

Two nights earlier

Lt. Flynn quietly watched Chief Johnson through her office's glass walls. It was the end of another uneventful day, with only bureaucratic paperwork to be filled. He saw her sitting back, starring at her screen. She was biting her lip, an unwrapped candy untouched on her desk, and he knew she was starring at Stroh's picture. It had survived the move into the new building. He had a bit of hope for her, that with the move, she would leave the past be and move on.

Living in the past hurt too much, and it was downright dangerous for a cop to give such meaning to the ones who got away. But it was a hopeless sort of hope to begin with. Chief Johnson was definitely not the type to give in or forget about something related to her cases. Other things, he thought amused, she could forget all too easily, but not her cases, not the victims. He admired her for it, but was scared and worried for her all the same.

The following morning Lt. Provenza hurried into the Chief's office without knocking. "Chief, you're going to want to see this! Look at the streets' names." he hurried around the desk as Brenda held her glasses inquiringly, wondering what got one of the calmest people she ever knew so excited. "What is it Lt.? What did you find…" her words faded off as he presented her with an open file, containing two rape reports. Her expression became intense and she didn't need him to say a word; she knew exactly what she was looking at. Her stomach turned into a knot immediately. After staring at the reports for a few moments, taking them in almost without breathing, she turned to Provenza, saying quietly "He's acting again, Lieutenant, we have to catch him before he does it again. I need to speak to the victims, check the eye witness from the second rape and get all the evidence in here, now, this is our first and only priority."

She stood up and took in the information in her hands again as the Lt. hurried away. "Oh my god… he assaulted again, he really assaulted again…" She knew serial rapists seldom completely desist from their actions, but it has been so long and he was so clever about it, she had not really expected him to start again, at least not in her jurisdiction.

She had been searching for an opportunity to catch him for so long, but did not want it to come from him attacking again. A vicious thought at the edge of her consciousness whispered it was her fault, for not being able to catch him the first time. "Well, I sure as hell am gonna get him this time, he is NOT getting away with it again." She took a steadying breath, made an unconscious move to straighten her dress and stormed out of her office.

"Heads up, everybody." her southern accent more noticeable, as always when she is upset. "Our Mr. Stroh is on the move again, Lt. Provenza is on his way with the evidence, and we need to go talk to the victims and a witness from two rapes committed over the past month." She began posting the pictures on the board and her team gathered around her curiously, tension beginning to build up. They waited for this a long time; she waited for this, for her opportunity at closure.

"Two women were raped over the past month, all in the same area. Victims are Caucasian, blond, living alone, in their 20s-30s, assaulted at their homes." The chief started informing her squad. "What leads us to believe that this is Stroh's work?" Asked Sgt. Gabriel as he viewed the material she was posting to the board. "Did he use the bathroom window and cut screen again?"

"No, no… if he did that I would be pretty sure it's NOT Stroh. Psychopaths like him always improve on their techniques for not getting caught." She remarked more to herself than to Gabriel. "In fact, there were no signs of forced entry at all. The victims were taken by surprise, didn't see the attacker, and the only witness saw a tall Caucasian man walking away from the second victim's house."

"Chief, it is very familiar, but it could still be someone else." "The second victim fought back, scratched her attacker, and after he was done with her he bothered to take the time and clean under her fingernails."

Brenda removed her glasses and turned to her squad. "It is him, I know it. Last time he was always one step ahead of us, especially with the help of that DDA Garnet fellow. This time we need to be one step ahead of him, it's the only chance we have of getting him. He has a weakness we've already seen – he needs to show his intelligence and control. He takes pleasure not only in rape, but also in making others recognize his superiority; otherwise he wouldn't have set up and arranged for the discovery of his actions. He wanted us to know how clever he is, he needs an audience for his satisfaction, and that's how we'll get him. Lt. Tao, please go over the evidence collected from these cases, see if anyone missed something. Lt. Flynn, please see if our witness recognizes Stroh from a picture line-up. Sgt. Gabriel, let's go talk to the victims and have a look at their homes. Det. Sanchez, I need you to follow Stroh, discreetly, make sure he isn't acting again while we're investigating. See if you can't recognize a potential victim or accomplice. Be careful not to get caught, Lt. Flynn and Lt. Provenza will assist. Thank you." As her squad filed out of the room to perform their tasks she turned to the board and posted Stroh's picture, whispering to herself "Why do it again, here, so obviously? What tricks do you have up your sleeve this time?" Sgt. Gabriel's call for her to come forced her away from his picture, but she was still worried.


	2. Chapter 2

Speaking to the victims was a frustrating task. Not due to the lack of witness, evidence or any other valid clue that could get them further ahead in their investigation, but rather because in each victim she saw his previous victims, her failure to get them justice, and it pissed her off. After leaving the second house Brenda walked out and examined the street, tracing back in her mind the actions that must have taken place the night of the assault.

"Flynn called in. No ID from the witness." Gabriel stood by her side, looking around the street, trying to find a subtle way to bring up something he was sure she would whole heartedly object. "Chief, you do realize that this is…"

"Yes, Sgt. I do. He selected me as his audience and made my neighborhood his crime scene."

"I know you're not gonna like this, Chief, but you should really consider getting a…"

"Not another word, Sgt.!" She snapped before he could continue, turning to him irritated, but softened as she saw his concerned look. "I appreciate the concern, Sgt., but protection won't be necessary here, I'm not his victim, I'm his point of reference. He uses people for his stimulation or for whatever practical value they hold for him. He needs to show his superiority, control and let it be known that he had outsmarted everyone and won. He will use me as an audience and a challenge to outsmart, not to overcome by brute force, I'm sure of that." Gabriel knew better than to continue arguing with her at that moment, but he didn't like it all the same.

Back in the squad room the team had all come together again, lacking Sanchez who was following Stroh. The meager evidence was already on the board, along with notes from the previous attacks. "Lt. Provenza, did you make sure the cases are officially under the units that handled them in the first place?"

"Yes, Chief. Personally. No one will know we're on them as well." Provenza assured her as he took his place.

"Good, thank you. Sgt. Gabriel was the update of bringing in a suspect for the second rape published?"

"Yes, Chief, just now."

"Lt. Tao?"

"Here is the list with names of all Caucasian, 20-30 year old women leaving alone in your neighborhood, and this is an extended version – all ethnicities and those who live only with children."

"Thank you Lt. Tao. Hmmm… Thank god I live in suburbia, only 6 single females living on their own. I need a discreet surveillance on each of their homes from evening to dawn, already cleared it with Chief Pope. Sgt. Gabriel, if you please make sure that's taken care of, and spread Stroh's picture amongst the teams – he may not attack their allotted potential victims, but he has to move around the neighborhood to get to one of them and I want to know if anybody sees him on the move. Worn them not to approach him unless he makes his move."

Brenda neglected to tell Gabriel that Pope had only agreed to it under the condition that she accepts surveillance as well, she couldn't stand it when the men around her started acting all concerned about her, it made her feel weak and agitated. "In the meantime, Lt. Tao, stay alert and check every rape report in the county that matches this EMO, I want to be notified immediately if something comes up. Lt. Provenza, Lt. Flynn, while ya'll are following him, I need you to check in every possible way, without getting caught, if you can find a hint to his next victim or accomplice. I would love to know who his next target is BEFORE he actually attacks. Thank you." She turned to the board and started chewing on her glasses. Half distracted half intensely concentrated, thinking and rechecking whether she had done everything legally and semi-legally possible to set her trap, lure the moth to the flame under her control. She sighed to herself and decided she had better go home for a while, clear her mind with a good hot shower and a nice big glass of Merlot, changing atmosphere often helped her put things in a new perspective.

It was around 3:00am that her phone rang and she pounced on it immediately, she hadn't really slept at all anyway after waking from a certain nightmare. Gabriel was on the other end of the line, "Chief, sorry to wake you up. You're not going to like this…" Brenda's stomach immediately turned into a knot, "Oh, God…"


	3. Chapter 3

"A reported tall, Caucasian man broke into one of the potential victim's home tonight, around 2:00am. The team guarding the house didn't see him coming in, apparently he came from a neighboring home's garden. They were alerted when they heard a scream and went inside. He probably heard them braking in and managed to escape without even being seen, and all the victim saw was a blurry masked white man in the dark."

Brenda finally let out a breath; at least he hasn't been able to rape again. "There might be some good news, chief. I'm waiting on SID and the medics to finish, but it seems that during the initial struggle the victim managed to scratch the assailant and we may have a DNA sample." Brenda felt a rush of hope and adrenalin, "Sgt. Gabriel!"

"I know chief, I'm on it, I won't let it out of my sight and I won't leave until they process it."

"Thank you, Sgt. Thank you so much." Brenda jumped out of bed, eager to go to the crime scene only a few blocks away, eager to start riding the bread-crumbs trail all the way to Stroh, when she realized she would be better off to once more consider her steps carefully. It frustrated her not to act immediately, not to be sure right away what the correct approach was, but it shook her that he had gotten away from her once already and she had to be careful and think every possibility through, like playing chess.

She looked at the still sleeping Fritz. Her handsome husband had probably gotten used to her getting phone calls in the middle of the night, he didn't even bother waking up from it anymore, 'and thank god for that' she thought to herself. Biting her lip, she thought he probably would be angry if he found out she neglected to tell him about Stroh reemerging in their neighborhood, but he was so concerned about her all the time, she didn't want to worry him anymore. To herself she admitted she didn't want him badgering her about protection either.

She went to the living room, where she found Joel, who seemed happy to have unexpected company to pet her. Him. It only took her a few minutes of quiet petting to realize exactly what all the possible moves were. She was out of her house in 10 minutes. By mid morning her squad had already done most of the preliminary work she ordered. "Chief, there is no clear connection between all the victims that can be traced to a specific person." Lt. Tao began explaining, "We checked the grocery stores, work, buses, garages, handyman, plumber, landlord, gardener, cleaning lady… no connection to all three victims. The gardener did work for two of them, but not the third."

"That's impossible, he must have had someone in the neighborhood watching and identifying his potential victims! We know why he chose the neighborhood, but how did he pin point the victims if not via an accomplice? How did he get in unnoticed if no one left an opening? Check again, Lt. Please, and make sure the various help wasn't perhaps employed by the same contractor or something. Look at the gardener again, he is still a possibility. Check to see he hasn't any connections to the other victim in some manner." Brenda began to feel frustrated. She had a DNA sample that so far had no matches in the data banks, three victims with no apparent connections apart from living in her neighborhood, a witness who couldn't identify anything, and has yet any answer as to how Stroh managed to evade her team's surveillance. Brenda's thoughts raced, could it be he was on to them already and used her own team as an alibi to throw them off track? Could it be it wasn't him after all? No, she couldn't believe that. She KNEW it was him. 'No, there must be some other explanation,' she thought to herself, 'and those two clowns had better come up with it, and fast!'

A few minutes later the duo redeemed themselves. "Chief, look here." Provenza pointed at an image from Stroh's apartment building security camera. "What am I looking at, Lt.?" Brenda asked irritated. "See, this is Stroh's car, the one we've been following and looking for. This here from another camera, is a car that was seen leaving the parking lot last night around 1:00am." He said as he pointed at a small, dark vehicle. "It returned at 3:00am, unfortunately it's parked in an area the cameras don't capture."

"But we checked this car. It belongs to a Melinda Foster from that building." Flynn picked up on Provenza's explanation, "Only Melinda swears she didn't go anywhere last night, and her husband was there to confirm."

"So Stroh uses a car that seemingly can't be traced to him for getting to his crime scenes... Did Ms. Foster allow you to search her car?"

"Yes, but we found nothing, sorry chief. We're checking the footage from the other attacks' dates now, chief." Flynn answered, unhappy he couldn't give her better news.

She wasn't pleased, but at least it was something. "Alright, gentlemen. Thank you." The two exchanged concerned glances before turning to leave her to her thoughts. Flynn lingered at the door a moment longer, looking at her knowingly. "Don't worry, chief, we'll get him. It'll be over soon and he will spend the rest of his poor excuse for a life behind bars." She looked at him with a silent thank you in her eyes. Flynn knew how it felt, and it was comforting to some extant to have someone who really understood.

He saw her softening for a second there and gave it his best shot, even though he knew the answer, "You sure you don't want protection in the meanwhile?" She saw he knew the answer and sufficed in giving him her 'stop acting silly' harsh look, which didn't impress him much. He knew how stubborn she was but had to try anyway, for her safety as well as his peace of mind. It worried him to death, knowing that murderous creep was lurking around her, and knowing her, she probably didn't even bother telling her FBI hubby about it so he could stay alert. "Look, I know it's a drag, but he probably knows we're on to him by now. It's just not safe." He half heartedly tried to argue while shrugging his shoulders.

"Thank you, Lt. but there is no need, now if you please leave and get some sleep, I need you on him tonight again." Flynn sighed, knowing there was no getting to her. "Alright, chief. I'll drop it, but I'm not going anywhere until we catch him." He looked at her resolutely and went to his desk. He didn't want to leave her or the case for a second, it was too important.

As soon as he left her office Tao came in, excited. "Chief, I think you were on to something – look at the home address of the gardener and the other victim's cleaning lady."

"Same street address, almost same house numbers."

"Yes, not only that chief, I also looked up and found that they are relatives!"

"Wonderful, get them down here please, no need to worry about discretion any more after last night. Put them in separate rooms, thank you." She was starting to feel more anxious as her investigation stormed further ahead. She felt so close to catching him, she just had to be patient a little while longer, get a few more answeres, and she would have him, here, in her interview room, confessing.


	4. Chapter 4

Brenda hurried through her interview with the cleaning lady and didn't press too hard to hear the truth when she denied any knowledge of the attack or having passed information on to anyone. She had plenty of time to get her confession later. She knew the moment she saw them on the screens in the electronics room that the young man was the one she was looking for, he was trying too hard to look calm, and was in a hurry. Stroh's next move worried her and she didn't want to give him time to think, or worse – execute his strategy. While headed for her second interview Lt. Tao caught up with her, "Chief, this is his rap sheet, he was involved in a few thefts in the past. According to the records, he was never represented by Stroh but he was represented by another lawyer from the firm he works with."

"Is that so, thank you lieutenant."

"Chief, there's another thing… Stroh is here. He's waiting outside your office and wants to talk to you." Tao delivered the unsettling news and she felt a surge of fear and excitement, adrenalin and information rushing through her brain. She now needed to move fast and get what she needed from the gardener, so she can go into the third and final interview with the upper hand.

"Stall him, Lt. But keep him very busy, I don't want him thinking too long and realizing what we're doing right now. You're certain neither of them called a lawyer?"

"Yes, chief. They both waved their rights." Tao responded with a shrug and hurried off. Brenda wandered why Stroh hadn't instructed the young man to contact a lawyer if arrested. She hated not knowing everything before questioning people, it made her feel uneasy, but time was pressing and Stroh was already here, ready, and so must she be.

Entering the second interview she was faced with a young man in his early 20s, sitting quietly, arms crossed on his chest, visibly attempting to look calm, and failing miserably. Brenda adopted a stern, cold approach and decided to cut to the chase. "Me Ruiz, I'm deputy chief Johnson and I am here to inform you that you are being officially charged with 2 counts of rape and one count of attempted rape. We have clear evidence…"

"What? No, you can't do this, it's a lie! I didn't do anything!" His calm façade cracked easily as he banged on the table and seemed too upset to think straight of his actions. Brenda knew the door was open for her now and charged straight ahead to her goal.

"Is that so? Than how do you explain finding your fingerprints in the victims' homes or that a neighbor saw YOU leaving the house after the attempted assault last night? You work there as a gardener, didn't you think you were going to be recognized, fleeing a crime scene?" She stormed at him, an accusing finger waving in his face.

"No way! That's a total lie! I wasn't there, ask my friends, I was with them last night! I swear!" Ruiz was sweating, just like she wanted him to.

"Oh, I'm sure your friends will vouch for you, but what good is their word against such compelling evidence? That's for a jury to decide. Now, unless you have anything else to tell me of these attacks - how you broke in unnoticed, why you chose these women, why now, then I am perfectly content sending you to jail right now, I already all have the evidence I need." Brenda began collecting the cases she had opened when Ruiz broke. She thought to herself it was almost too easy…

"Okay okay, listen. I do know something, but you gotta promise me I'm not going back to jail. Okay? I mean, it's not like I did it or anything like that, it's just… I may know something about it it's all, but you've gotta promise not to send me back!"

"At the moment you are on your way to jail, so if you have something to say I suggest you make it fast and tell me the whole truth, or I will be out of here in a second. Speak."

Ruiz seemed to find little assurance in her words but for lack of better alternative, he cooperated. "After the last time I got in trouble, my lawyer got me off the hook. He was a good lawyer my parents paid a lot for, so I didn't have any intention of going back to that life. But a short while after I got a letter from someone saying he's a lawyer, and he knew the details of my cases! The letter had instructions and some money. It said if I do as he asked, he will give me more money and promise legal assistance if I ever needed, for free. My parents paid a lot of money to get me to that lawyer. Thinking about free quality lawyer and the chance to make some really good money, for such small deeds – I went for it."

"What exactly were those small deeds? I'm warning you, I want the whole truth." Brenda was anxious for him to get to the point, her mind already running through her third interview of the day.

"At first it was small things, leaving him information on the neighborhood I work in, the homes, what I see they have in them, what cars etc… I didn't know why someone like a lawyer would be into stealing, but I guess everyone has their business to take care of. Anyway, I delivered the information, in writing, to this place, where more money and instructions would wait for me."

"Where exactly was 'this place'?"

"It's this junkyard by my neighborhood. I would leave the information there, pick up the money and further instructions, and that's it! I never saw the guy, nor knew what he was planning."

"And when you realized what he was doing, you wanted to stop working for him, yes?" She lured him in, trying to wrap it up.

"Yeah! Sure! But he said I couldn't back out and that if I did he would make sure I was thrown back in jail. I couldn't take that risk, I had to keep working for him!" Ruiz seemed both nervous and relieved.

"And all this you did in writing, yes?"

"Yes, I never saw the man, I tell you!"

"So can you tell me how exactly the information you gave him helped him enter the homes of your employers unnoticed?" Ruiz seemed embarrassed for a second, "Remember, complete honesty or I'm gone." That did the trick; fear of imprisonment was a powerful thing.

"I replicated the keys for him. I would get my hands on them during the hours I was working there, replicate them immediately and put them back before they noticed it was gone. It was tricky, but he threatened me, I had to do it." Ruiz seemed so afraid Brenda had a tang of compassion for him before loath set in with the reminder of the broken women she interviewed the previous day. "This one house he needed the key for my cousin worked there, so I made her help me out, but she doesn't know anything, really, leave her alone."

"Alright, write it down, and a detective will escort you to retrieve those letters you had better kept, and maybe, if this information helps us, than I will see what can be done. Let me assure you, if you have been anything but one hundred percent honest with me, you are going back to jail, and I will personally make sure it won't be a short stay. Do you understand?" She wanted to make sure nothing was left out; even though she had a feeling it was pretty much it.

"Yes, I promise. I'll get you the letters, anything you want, just, don't send me back."

Brenda left the interview room without another word. She didn't really expect to hear anything else from him, assuming that if Stroh hadn't instructed him to call him if anything happens, then it very well may be due to the fact that he didn't want him to know his true identity. Pausing for a brief second in the hallway she tried to wrap her mind around everything ever since the previous streak of attacks, till the last interview. At least she knew why he was acting again, but it was a troubling thought she may be better off not thinking about. To think that he was searching for an opportunity to set up another act close to her was disturbing, but it must be true. In order to locate such an accomplice he would have needed to be patient and constantly search for a way to get to her. Brenda found it bitterly ironic. All this while she was searching for him, the feeling was apparently mutual. She lifted her head, put her game face on, and went to find her last interview for the day, Mr. Stroh.


End file.
